Google Wallet users get $5 apology as prepaid service resumes in full after security issues

Following recent trouble with Google Wallet, Google is giving all prepaid users of its mobile payments system a small piece of compensation by adding $5 to their accounts, as members of the Rootz Wiki discovered.

The move is part of a wider apology from Google after issues arose last month questioning the security of the system and safety of users’ credit. Google Wallet was initially shown to been vulnerable to PIN cracking on rooted devices, before a second issue which affected all prepaid users was discovered.

Google responded claiming that, with some justification, the issues centered around unlocked and rooted devices, both of which are made at the device owner’s own risk. Nonetheless it locked down some prepaid settings while it addressed the problems..

The company reopened the issuing of prepaid cards last month and it has now re-enabled all prepaid card services. As The Verge reports, it clarified this and more in an email apology to all prepaid customers, which includes confirmation of the $5 credit:

We are happy to announce that you can now add the Google Prepaid Card back to your wallet with the newest version of Google Wallet, and any funds that you previously had on the card should be restored, unless you contacted Money Network and asked for a refund of those funds. To add the Google Prepaid Card back, you will first need to update your Google Wallet application to the most recent version.

However, there is some confusion around the latest version which Google explicitly mentions. While the folks at The Verge are saying that the latest version of the software that they have is not reflecting any updates, it appears that new versions have been picked up by some Rootz Wiki members.

Rooted device owners there have claimed that they are now seeing warnings inside the app, which suggests an update, but it remains unclear whether a new version is out and available to all users.

We’ve reached out to Google to clarify the status of the new update, and we will add new details to this post as we are given them.